


Life Is Never What We Want It To Be

by RedCrystal09



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Batfamily Drama (DCU), Batfamily is a Mess (DCU), Bruce Wayne Clone, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Brucie Wayne Kills Like He Originally Did Before Robin, Brucie Wayne Knows ALL, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake Search For Batman, F/M, Gotham’s Heroes Aren’t Human Anymore, He Accidentally Adopts Terry McGinnis, He Likes To Be Called Brucie And Hates Batman, He Treats Superman and Green Lantern With Kindness, He’s Done With Brucie’s Shit, Jason Todd and Damian Wayne Are Conflicted, The Girls Watch as Brucie Makes A New Team, There Will Be Four Batwoman In Total, Tired Alfred Pennyworth, Who Is The Real Batman?, Young Bruce Acts More Like Brucie Wayne, Young Bruce Is The Same Age As Jason Todd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27173645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedCrystal09/pseuds/RedCrystal09
Summary: For so long, Batman had always been a jerk. The Batfamily accepted he was an asshole who only cared about the Mission and eventually left him alone. But now there is an appearance of a younger Bruce Wayne who knows more than he should. And reveals that he or Batman are a clone.Drama ensues as Brucie Wayne changes Gotham accidentally, adding new members to the family who have less issues with him killing.What is Gotham to do with a younger Batman who has no problem killing as the older Batman is nowhere to be found? And who is the clone?*Better explanation and summary in Notes
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd, Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Kudos: 13





	Life Is Never What We Want It To Be

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Batman or any of the characters. 
> 
> This idea was inspired by Batman being a jerk in Rebirth. I decided that he was a different Batman from the early comics and eventually concluded he could be a clone. And thus this story was born. 
> 
> To clear things up, Brucie Wayne hates being Batman and would rather live a normal life than focus on saving Gotham. His behavior is eventually explained through his story of why he is as old as Jason and why he knows everything. And unlike his older self, he is more lighthearted (despite killing) and is amused by the Justice League. That, and he likes Superman and Green Lantern. 
> 
> The older Batman is obsessed with the Mission he eventually drives everyone away and is an insufferable, abusive asshole. He was originally a good person but over the years he slowly changed to who he is. 
> 
> Due to how different both men are, this causes conflict as Brucie gives what Jason and Damian desire but Dick and Tim want Batman back as they had closer bonds with him and believe Brucie is the fake. Stephanie and Cass investigate Brucie’s whereabouts before being found as Barbara and Duke search for Batman. Elsewhere, Kate has to deal with the new three Batwoman who have shown up in Gotham (I’ll be sticking to the movie as close as possible). 
> 
> Terry McGinnis shows up around Brucie’s first Gala and will end up being adopted by him after being found with his dead family. He is still related to him but only through the Batman’s DNA.

  
“ _Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me!_ ”

He’s annoying. 

“ _They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke_.”

He’s not wrong. Why hadn’t the people done something? Can’t they see they’re hurting Gotham? Corrupting it everyday?

“ _Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be.”_

He’s right. He’d felt it for over a decade. The feelings of greed, anger, bitterness, hate, _fear_. Feelings that are so common everywhere and nowhere yet Gotham’s people swim in it. No one is innocent. No one ever is. 

“ _I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster_.”

He might’ve disagreed with him at one point but he had been a different person back then. He had seen everything and felt everything when he and Gotham became one. Spectators to the evil that filled Gotham as it consumed people whole and filled their hearts with dark desire. But this man, he had broken free of its grasp for a brief time before he had been forcibly pushed back. Now he lived in between, deemed as a mad man as chaos dueled inside his mind, neither side ever winning. 

He slid a hand down his waist and gazed down at the man, eyes understanding. He gave the victim a sad smile and pointed the gun towards his heart.

He would be free. 

“ _I'm just ahead of the curve._ ”

Without hesitation, he freed the man from Gotham’s cold grasp and watched as he gave one last laugh, body collapsing into its cold waters. He blinked as tears ran down his pale face. He wiped them away and stared at his hand in fascination. When was the last time he had cried?

Glancing down briefly, he caught a flash of green before completely disappearing, red slowly spreading. Shaking his head in amusement, he stepped back and began to walk away on the sidewalk. Looks like he failed again. It wasn’t the first time he had and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. That fateful night was proof of his biggest failure. His, of course, not _his_. That man had committed his failures all on his own. If he hadn’t lost and become this, would he have become that man? Consumed by his mission?

He pondered what to do next as he walked aimlessly around. In the distance he heard the roar of something and brushed it off. Whatever Gotham had planned he could care little about it. Couldn’t he just be left alone to find his own purpose?

Stuck in thought he missed the fact that the sound had finally stopped behind him. Maybe he should visit that new club that opened up near Crime Alley. It might be fun. 

“Batman?” 

He paused and turned slightly to face a young man clad in a tight suit with a blue emblem etched across his chest and the blue spreading all the way to the fingertips. Nightwing? Wasn’t he still angry with _him_? 

Shrugging, he decided to be polite and answered back, “Yes?”

The older man gaped at him as he got off his motorcycle and slowly approached him. “What happened to you?”

“I died,” he responded as he closed the distance between them. “Shouldn’t you be elsewhere?” Why had he come back? Didn’t he know he was safer away from here? Wait… he’s the only one alive who knows the truth. That’s just depressing. 

He perked up as Nightwing scowled at him, “Don’t joke around! What happened to you? Did you piss off a magician again? Some sort of experiment gone wrong?”

Oh… oh. He thought he was Batman. He looked down at his chest, the blue bat symbol shining in the moonlight as his blue cape fluttered about. But shouldn’t his outfit give it away? Or his age? Then again didn’t his other self deal with crazy on a daily basis? His appearance wouldn’t be considered the strangest for such a thing. 

“You should go back,” he warned. “You’re much safer away from here.” He felt slightly insulted that the other brushed off his concerns and rolled his eyes. He pouted and wrapped himself in his cape. Nightwing looked at him in amazement and curiosity. The hero put a hand to his ear.

“Guys, family emergency. Meeting in the Batcave by tomorrow morning. B has finally lost it. Oh, and he is currently covered in blood as a 20- something- year old man.”

Rude, he thought glumly. He never even told him his story. What was Batman teaching them? Damn it, he will not be Gotham’s protector again. 


End file.
